She set her free hand on the mattress, rose and forced herself to inhale through her clogged throat. “My dad and grandfather will be here tomorrow.”
Zach nodded. “Are you worried about meeting your grandfather?”
“I’m worried about telling them that I’m moving to London.” I’m worried my heart might not forget you.
“I didn’t know that was the plan for tomorrow.” He spread out the blankets he’d been using on the floor.
“I have to tell them.” Georgie thrust her hand through her hair and loosened her ponytail. Nothing felt right, all of a sudden, from her too-tight hair band to her borrowed pajamas. “You heard Dorothy this afternoon. Iris and Estelle are talking about my name on Dr. Cummings’s sign.”
“How many people could two women have told?” He unfolded another blanket.
“Lydia told me at dinner that the pharmacist at South Corner Drug asked her about me today.” Georgie crossed her arms over her chest. “Rachel heard about it at the Clearwater Café. And Ty mentioned overhearing customers talk about me at the bank.”
“I guess it is true.” Zach dropped a pillow on his makeshift bed. “Gossip really does travel faster than the speed of light in a small town.”
“I have to tell my family and let them correct the locals.” And stop herself from considering Iris’s absurd suggestion. She belonged in a research lab, not patient care. How could she honor her mother’s memory if she let her own patients down? If she failed her own patients like she’d failed her own mom?
“What can I do?” he asked.
Stand beside me. Hold my hand. Come to London with me. She blinked at him. “Help me convince my family this is the best career move for me, like we agreed.”
They’d also agreed their entire relationship was fake. And she hadn’t held up her side of that deal. It wasn’t too late for a course correction. She would help Zach and his horse. Make it her parting gift. “Have you spoken to Ethan about Rain Dancer?”
“Not yet.” Zach folded his jeans and avoided looking at her.
“But you’ve been helping in the stables every day. Surely you’ve run into Ethan.” Georgie pulled the comforter back and sat on the bed. “You told me Rain Dancer needs help soon.”
“He does.” Zach ran his hands over his head. “Ethan’s busy with his own patients and family.”
“But Rain Dancer should be his patient, too,” Georgie argued.
“Let’s get through your family announcement first. Then I’ll talk to Ethan,” he said.
“Fine,” Georgie agreed. Then she silently decided she’d talk to Ethan herself.
“I have something that might help tomorrow.” He walked out of the bedroom and into the living room.
He returned holding the jewelry box she’d discovered in the Once Was Barn. The door had been reattached, the glass cleaned and the entire box stained a rich cherry color. She walked over to him and accepted the jewelry box as if he was presenting her with a career achievement award. “You fixed it.”
“I know it’s not your mother’s bracelet, but it’s old and a piece of your family history.” He touched the top. His voice touched her heart.
She hugged the jewelry box, rather than embracing Zach. If she wrapped her arms around him, she’d forget. Forget she didn’t love this kind, generous man. “It could be Lily’s something old.”
“Maybe it’ll take the sting out of not having the charm bracelet to give her.” Tenderness and affection tempered the green in his gaze.
The thought of not having Zach in her life stung, piercing right into her chest. She wasn’t certain anything would remove the pain.
She lifted onto her toes and pressed a kiss on his cheek. The last kiss she would ever give him. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“PUT YOUR PHONE over there on the workbench.” Zach pointed at the wide workbench against the wall of Dorothy and Big E’s garage.
“My dad is going to send another update soon.” Georgie’s knuckles were white from her rigid grip on her phone. Tension hunched her shoulders to her ears and stiffened her voice.
The woman was more agitated than a rattler’s tail before the snake attacked. Her father had been texting hourly progress reports and location updates all morning. She’d been staring at her phone’s screen since sunrise. Reading aloud her father’s text messages, then simply rambling. First about the weather. Then her sisters’ arrival the following day. Then reading the advisories included in a snowstorm warning. In the kitchen, she’d added pacing to her ongoing rambling. Every mile marker closer to Falcon Creek that her dad and Big E drove, the more anxious Georgie became.
Now it was the lunch hour and Zach determined he had to channel her nerves, or she’d combust well before dinner.
He walked over to her and pried her phone out of her grasp. “We’re antiquing Dorothy’s bench. You need both hands free.”
“Right.” She opened and closed her hand as if working out the stress. “What do I need to do again?”
He stuffed her phone in his back pocket and placed his hands on her shoulders. “First, you need to breathe and relax.”
“I know.” Her forehead dropped onto his chest. Her words came out muffled. “But I don’t know how. My mind won’t stop.”
“Good thing I’m here.” He ran his hands up and down her arms. He wasn’t pulling her against him to hold her. Or pulling her in to distract her with a kiss. He was offering her support. Nothing that involved emotions or deepening connections. “We’re going to focus on staining and making Dorothy’s bench perfect for her.”
“Yes. Right.” She nodded against his chest. “That’s your plan.”
“Our plan,” he corrected.
She lifted her head. “How, again, is antiquing a bench going to prepare me to tell my family about my upcoming move to London?”
“Antiquing the bench is going to help me finish faster.” He released her and set her phone facedown on the workbench.
“So, this isn’t about helping me at all.” She frowned, but a hint of humor tinged her tone.
“Working with me is going to give you something else to focus on.” Not that he wanted her to focus on him. He cleared his throat. “I meant working on the bench.”
“I need to practice what I’m going to say.” She followed him over to the tarp where he’d arranged the pieces that would become the new bench.
“Why not speak from the heart?” He handed her a paintbrush and a can of stain. “If they understand what it really means to you, they’ll have to support you.”
“I speak logic and data,” she said. “Not heart.”
Except with him. He’d told her about his mother and his past. Georgie hadn’t given him the scientific evidence proving addiction was a disease. She hadn’t listed the scientific reasons to explain away his mother’s behavior. She’d listened and had gotten angry on his behalf. That had been her heart speaking. “If your mom was here, what would you tell her?”
“My mom.” She lowered onto her knees and dropped the paintbrush in the stain can.
Zach clenched the stain cloth in his fist. He’d overstepped. Should’ve left well enough alone. His throat dry, a scratch cracked through his words. His mouth clearly refused to leave it alone. “My brother, Cody, was my person. He knew everything about me, knew me the best.”
“Like my mom,” she whispered. “She knew me the best.”
He nodded and loosened his grip on the cloth. “Even today, years after his death, I still ask myself…what would Cody tell me? What would Cody want me to do?”
“My mom always told me to spread my wings and fly.” Georgie stirred the paintbrush around the can, as if inside the liquid she saw her mother’s face. Heard her mom’s encouraging voice.
“Cody always accused me of trying to fix everything and help everyone.”
She touched his arm. “That’s not a bad quality.”
But he hadn’t been able to help the one who had mattered the most: his own brother. He hadn’t been able to fix everything after all. Zach wiped off the excess stain from a corner of the headboard. His frustration and grief proved harder to remove. “Wanting to spread your wings and fly isn’t a bad thing either.”
“My mom would’ve supported my dream.” She picked up the paintbrush and spread stain across the bottom of the headboard.
“And London is your dream,” he said.
“The job in London is my goal.”
He caught the drips of stain in the cloth and the confusion in her voice. “Aren’t those the same?”
She paused and passed the paintbrush from one hand to the other. Her gaze, bewildered and clouded, collided with his. “I don’t know.”
The door leading from the garage into the house opened. Dorothy appeared, bundled in snow pants, a puffy jacket and heavy boots. Concern pulled her mouth into a firm frown. “The storm is arriving sooner than expected. The forecasters have now upgraded us to a blizzard warning.”
Zach pressed the lid onto the top of the stain can and rose. “What can we do?”
Dorothy pulled several heavy-duty flashlights from a shelf beneath the workbench. “It’s all hands on deck to get prepared.”
Georgie set her paintbrush in the work sink and wiped her hands on her leggings. “We just need our jackets and we’ll go with you.”
Jackets, scarves and gloves on, Georgie and Zach joined Dorothy in the driveway.
“Thank you. We can use the extra help. Jon, Conner and Ben are at their homes prepping.” Dorothy opened both passenger doors on the ATV and climbed into the rear passenger seat. “We’re meeting in the dining hall to divide up the work.”
Zach tugged a knit hat over his head and glanced at Georgie.
“Zach has been driving these roads all week just fine.” Dorothy waved them inside. “I’m more than happy to be a passenger.”
“Dorothy wins.” Georgie climbed into the front seat.
Zach shut Georgie’s door, rounded the ATV to the driver’s side and drove toward the dining hall. Flurries already fell, thick and wet, curtaining the ATV in a dense snow shower.
“How much snow is expected?” Georgie rubbed her gloved hands together.
“Eight to twelve inches,” Dorothy said.
“It’s the heavy snow and ice accumulations that’ll cause the most concern.” Zach slowed the ATV going around a curve.
Dorothy leaned forward and patted Georgie’s shoulder. “We’ll ride out the whiteout conditions safely here, as Blackwells have done every winter for generations.”
“What about my dad and Big E?” Georgie’s worry extended into the misty puff of her breath.
“They checked in not thirty minutes ago,” Dorothy said. “The roads are still open on their route, although they’ve had to slow down.”
Zach parked outside the dining hall and grasped Georgie’s hand. “Your dad and grandfather aren’t reckless. They’ll take precautions.”
“Reckless is your grandfather’s middle name,” Dorothy said. “Fortunately, even he knows his limits, and battling a blizzard isn’t a challenge he’ll willingly take on.”
Dorothy rushed inside the dining hall, leaving Zach and Georgie behind.
Georgie kept her hand on her door handle. “Was Dorothy trying to make me feel better?”
“I’m not sure.” Zach shook his head. “But I meant what I said. I don’t think they’ll keep on driving in whiteout conditions.” The corner of her bottom lip disappeared beneath her teeth. Zach added, “But they might catch a break and get here before the blizzard.”
“Thanks.” Georgie tapped her pockets. “I left my phone at the house.”
“We can go back and get it,” Zach said.
“No.” Georgie opened her door. “We need to help.”
Inside the dining hall, Hadley and Katie sat in chairs near the fireplace, their feet propped up on an empty bench. Both women clutched clipboards. Hadley’s detailed inclement-weather procedures for the guest lodge and cabins. Katie’s detailed the procedures for the ranch.
Katie pointed her pencil at Zach. “Ethan asked if you could blanket the Ambassadors for the night and prep their stalls in case we lose power.”
Zach nodded.
“Can you move the sand near the stable doors and spread more deicing salt outside, too?” Katie ran her finger down her clipboard. “And do the same outside the dining-hall doors.”
“I can.” Still Zach waited.
Katie lifted the top page on her clipboard. Her brow creased, and her mouth pinched into a thin line.
Dorothy scooted her chair closer to Katie and touched her arm. “It’s not our first blizzard.”
“It’s the first one I’m not out there preparing for.” Katie set her hand on her stomach and grimaced. “I should be out there. I have the list. I know what needs to be done.”
“They all know what to do and what you expect.” A gentle confidence wove through Dorothy’s voice.
“It doesn’t make it any easier to sit here.” Katie frowned.
“Then don’t sit,” Dorothy said. “Help Georgie and Zach get ready to go outside.”
Katie lowered her clipboard and studied them. Her frown deepened. “Georgie, you’re going to need more than that out there. Temperatures are plummeting and the winds are kicking up.”
“Use the stuff on the tree.” Hadley threw her hands over her head. “If ever there was a good reason to dismantle our Christmas tree, it’s this. Zach, grab the hat near the top for Georgie and the red plaid scarf. It’s the thickest one on the tree.”
“And she needs these, too.” Rosie slipped off her chair, unfolded her hands and revealed a pair of hand warmers.
“You need to keep those, Rosie.” Georgie kissed the little girl’s forehead. “I appreciate it, but I’ll be fine.”
Zach wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be fine. Fine not holding her hand. Fine not sharing another kiss. Fine knowing soon Georgie wouldn’t be beside him suggesting dessert before dinner, humming Christmas carols or simply settling him.
He’d have to find his fine again. The fine he’d believed he was before he ever met Georgiana Harrison.
Removing the items from Hadley and Ty’s tree, he turned to Georgie and wrapped the scarf around her, tucking the ends inside her jacket. He tapped her hands away when she tried to help, intent on bundling her up to his satisfaction. After all, he still had a few days to pretend she was his. “There’s snow and then there’s the storm outside.”
“It’s cold on another level.” Hadley hugged herself as if suddenly chilled.
“We have more hand warmers in the kitchen.” Katie blew out a long breath. “I stashed a pack in the pantry behind the flour last week. The kids like to put warmers in every single pair of boots, and every jacket and pocket. Even in their clothes that no longer fit.”
Dorothy went into the kitchen, then returned with coffee in one hand, hand warmers in the other. “I’ll start brewing another pot of coffee and begin preparing dinner.”
“It’s going to be a long night,” Katie said. “You might want to brew two pots.”
Layered in the extra scarves they’d wrapped around their faces, hand warmers in their pockets and hair tucked inside their hats, Zach and Georgie ventured outside. He held on to her arm, and side by side they battled the wind and made it to the stables.
Inside, Georgie blew out a shivery breath and knocked snow from her boots. “Hadley wasn’t kidding. I’ve never felt the wind dig right through my bones.”
Zach turned on the stable lights. “Let’s work quickly and get back to the warmth of the dining hall.”
“I have no idea what to do.” Georgie remained fixed near the doors, looking unsure about whe
ther she’d rather face the snowstorm or the horses. “I also know nothing about horses other than I asked Santa for a pony when I was six because that’s what Amanda and Lily wanted.”
“There are no ponies here, only horses.” Zach moved back to her side and took her gloved hand. “And I know a bit about horses. We’ll work through the stalls one by one, starting with Elmer.”
“Elmer.” Georgie arched an eyebrow at him.
As if the older horse had been listening, Elmer set his head outside his stall. His ears pricked forward. Elmer nickered. Zach grinned. “There’s my boy, now.”
Georgie tugged on Zach’s arm. “That’s Elmer.”
“He’s reserved and seriously hard to impress.” Zach pulled her toward the draft horse’s stall. “And the definition of a gentle giant.”
“And Elmer is one of your favorites,” Georgie said.
“Maybe,” Zach confessed.
The large horse was docile and subdued, as if he understood his size was intimidating enough. Even more, Cody would’ve adored the horse. His brother had always wanted their own ranch and pastures for their own horses. Ones Cody had insisted the brothers could train to be the best calf ropers around. Elmer wasn’t cut out for calf roping, but that wouldn’t have mattered to his brother.
Cody had often repeated Marshall’s sayings to Zach, fully believing the longtime horse trainer’s wise words were proverbs to live by. Good people touch a place in your heart. Horses do the same.
Zach reached for Elmer’s stall door. “Let’s introduce you.”
Georgie introduced herself and proceeded to inform the giant of her equine inexperience and limited knowledge of horses. As expected, Elmer sidestepped her concern and nudged his massive head against her palm until she rubbed between his ears.
Georgie’s smile grew. “I think he likes me.”
Of course he did. Smart horse. “I like her, too, Elmer. But that’s between you and me.”
“I can hear you,” Georgie teased. “Where’s Elmer’s blanket?”
“He’s wearing it.” Zach stepped around the pair. “He needs warm water and hay cubes.”
Harlequin Heartwarming December 2020 Box Set Page 17